Alec Baldwin demoted to Saturday by ABC amid arrest, low scores

ABC quietly announced on Election Night that “The Alec Baldwin Show” would move from its prestigious timeslot on Sunday evenings to a less desirable Saturday night spot, amid disappointing ratings and negative media attention surrounding the hot-headed thespian.

Repeats of “Shark Tank” will replace Baldwin’s beleaguered talk show on Sunday at 10 p.m. “The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Holiday Special” and “The Sound of Music” will also air on Sunday nights. “The Alec Baldwin Show” returns Dec. 8 in its new timeslot — 10 p.m. ET on Saturdays.

Variety – a leading Hollywood trade publication – said “ABC has all but pulled the plug” on the show, pointing to the program’s dismal ratings. Variety noted Baldwin’s show is “one of ABC’s lowest-rated programs” and its last episode only attracted 1.5 million viewers.

“The show has failed to find a significant audience,” Variety’s Joe Otterson wrote.

It’s been a rough few days for the anti-Trump Baldwin, who was charged with misdemeanor assault and harassment following his arrest last week after he allegedly punched a man in New York City’s ritzy West Village neighborhood.

In a video obtained by Page Six, Baldwin, 60, was seen walking out of the NYPD’s 6th Precinct station house in Greenwich Village. He is due back in court Nov. 26 and took to his family foundation’s Twitter account to address the incident hours after his arrest.

“Normally, I would not comment on something as egregiously misstated as today’s story,” he wrote. “However, the assertion that I punched anyone over a parking spot is false,” he continued. “I wanted to go on the record stating as much. I realize that it has become a sport to tag people [with]as many negative charges and defaming allegations as possible for the purposes of clickbait entertainment.”

Baldwin concluded: “Fortunately, no matter how reverberating the echos, it doesn’t make the statements true.”

Baldwin has earned raves — and groans — for his portrayal of President Trump on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” His previous talk show experience didn’t end well, either: Baldwin’s MSNBC 2013 MSNBC show was canceled after five episodes.

This was not the first arrest for the notoriously tantrum-prone star. Baldwin was cuffed in 2014 after he reportedly became “belligerent” with a police officer who stopped him on his bike for allegedly riding in the wrong direction. ABC News White House correspondent Tara Palmeri recently recalled how Baldwin once told her, “I hope you choke to death,” when she was working as a tabloid reporter in New York City.

Fox News’ Sasha Savitsky and Robert Gearty contributed to this report.